It’s not often that I would use movies as a reference but this book reminded me of a more PG version of Boondock Saints, except that it was set in Philadelphia, PA, instead of the Boston Area. The reason to why it reminds me of this movie is because of the fact that you’ve got a tight knit community. Where a bar or pub, whichever you prefer to call it, where your treated like family. And the good guy goes out to catch the bad guy that is messing with someone in his community, differences are that, Quinn isn't a vigilante, his father wasn't harmed in anyway, and it's only one guy instead of two. I think it was the tight knit community, and the pub, and the fact Quinn goes out and kicks some major tail. This is basically set in neighborhoods that are filled with Blue collar workers, most of them being cops whether retired or active.
What surprised me most is that Quinn, who is obviously the main character was an ex-boxer, ex-con, who loves art and painting. It’s not very often that you see character such as this. Which in the whole made it more intriguing to read this book; it starts off with him finishing up one of his cases. Then goes into where he picks up a major case, and then picks up another case which is slightly minor to the bigger case, also pays out more. With Quinn being an ex-con his job resources were highly limited so his childhood best friend’s dad, had given him a chance as an Insurance Investigator that only works on commission.
So he starts working on both cases the major one being an art gallery robbery, the minor being a robbery at a stadium, with about a dozen kegs stolen. Throughout this story Quinn meets up with some interesting characters and some quite scary (like mob scary). He runs through putting puzzle pieces together about both cases, plus kicking some major ass in the meantime, and all done without guns, quite masterful if you ask me. It’s like Jason Statham without his guns, but still kicking major ass.
All in all its one hell of a book, it’s got some crime drama, some mystery, some action, and it also kind of reminds me of Scooby-Doo when Velma figures out the bad guy and goes to unmask him. And I LOVE Scooby-Doo! This is not my typical genre that I read, but I’m going to say I am quite excited about Quinn’s next book. Wonder what trouble he’ll get himself into this time, and maybe JUST maybe he’ll finally tell Nora what he feels. So we shall see. ( )

Ex con insurance investigator solves the missing Vermeer mystery. Looks to be a good series. Kindle book had a number of typos. ( )

Liam Quinn is an interesting guy. He's a tough Irish-American who is regretful about the pain he's caused his family. He has a cop father and brother, as well as a priest brother. He goes to mass every Sunday to try and make amends for his stint in jail for forgery. He now works as a fraud investigator for an insurance company. When two men rob a small art gallery opening, video shows one of them moving and replacing a small painting in a back room. Taking only a Vermeer painting, Quinn wonders why they left the other valuable paintings behind?

I liked this mystery and the characters too. The author painted a vivid picture of the Irish Catholic population in Philadelphia, especially Quinn's family. The writing is filled with dry wit and entertaining one-liners. Overall the book was very enjoyable with enough twists to keep it interesting. I will definitely try another sometime in the future. ( )

A gallery heist isn't what it seems, and soon, Quinn is running out of people to trust. The biggest mobster in town, a sweetheart named Vin the Shin," is calling him out; a steady string of lowlifes wants his head, and the local police think he's hiding something. But hey when trouble comes knocking? That's when Quinn Checks In. A boxer and ex-convict trying to make himself right in the world inhabited by his police family. This first book in a series, it never stopped flowing and my attention never wandered. I am looking forward to reading more of this series. ( )

The opening episode in the Quinn series, this fast-paced private investigation features an intriguing core character in a savvy scenario. Like old-fashioned pulp fiction detectives, Quinn is a good guy who’s been a bit of a bad boy.

He has contacts on both sides of the Philadelphia backstreets where he investigates insurance claims. He’s been inside, is owed a few favours, but has family in the force. He’s more than capable of breaking a few heads if the odds in a dark alley stack up against him. Yet Quinn also has a creative streak and a history with art… art fraud in particular. And that’s how he ends up investigating the theft of a Vermeer painting.

The author’s free-flowing writing is dry, worldly-wise and seething with snappy one-liners. Quinn’s universe is comprehensively constructed with a tip of the hat to all kinds of genre tropes. It all feels familiar – but given a refresh and a modern spring in its step. Quinn plainly is a hard man but he’s as smart as Jack Reacher when it comes to calculating a fight – and the carefully choreographed and tightly-described fight scenes are as good as I’ve read in a long while.

LH Thomson has built an intriguing urban environment for Quinn to develop in. Best of all, he satisfactorily wrapped up this mystery, pulling myriad plot threads together in fine style, yet left some interesting avenues open for future exploration.

All of which bodes well for the next book…
9/10

There's more about this thriller and other crime fiction at http://www.murdermayhemandmore.net ( )